About Encouragement Café with Luann & Friends

From the moment your eyes open to the last minute of the day, your life is filled with nonstop action. If you aren't careful you can become so overwhelmed in meeting the demands of life that you forget to spend time with your Creator and Sustainer. Our daily devotionals written specifically for women in all walks and stages of life, will change the outlook of your day and give you the inspiration you need! Spending any amount of quiet time in the Word of God will refresh and encourage. Find a Bible devotion here and see how God can work through you to make today a joyful day!

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

- Psalm 73:26 NIV

Entrée:

My girlfriends never noticed the pause in my step as we entered the antique shop. Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” held me captive and for a moment I was eight years old again.

I’d sit at her feet. Mom mesmerized me when she played piano. Chopin and Pachelbel were favorites. Their music transported us toward adventure. Mom was fascinated by cultures so very different from our own and dreamt of travel that would come in the future.

Then one day the music stopped.

At 36 her body attacked itself leaving her crippled and weak. She was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects more than 2 million Americans.

Mom was brave. As kids we never realized the pain and grief she experienced. But nothing could prepare her for the day her hands truly failed her… that dreadful morning when the doctor told her she would never play a piano again. A piece of her heart shattered. Grief. Loss. Her piano. Her world.

Yet, the remarkable part of mom’s story doesn’t end with her illness or even her passing. No, her story is compelling because when every dream she had for herself was stripped away she simply said, “God, use me.”

It was her peace with the life that God had chosen for her that prompted people to confide in her. Her phone constantly rang with a friend who wanted someone to listen.

And her compassion and empathy for strangers pulled her out of bed on days when her body said, “No.” She made dinners for grieving widows, taught Sunday school to mentally challenged friends. She even worked to train top physicians how to better examine and treat RA patients.

Her Christ-like love for others prompted her to perform random acts of kindness. Little Mo. Maureen. She knew that despite her physical limitations she was a child of God. And because of this, she made a choice to be joyful and start each morning with giving of herself to help others in Jesus’ name.

After a brief stay in the hospital mom passed. We were devastated. But what surprised us were the tears shared with the critical care nurses. They barely knew her and surely must see loss often. Like all of us, they were blessed by mom’s faith, grace, and optimism.

How is God using challenges in your life to grow you spiritually? Does it give you a sense of peace to know God can use the best and worst parts of your life to grow you and His kingdom? Are there people in your life who inspire you? Those perhaps who have every reason to give up and be bitter, but instead with a heart like Joseph, charge ahead asking God to reveal His purpose given their new circumstances?

Dessert:

Dear God, thank You for using all the best and worst parts of my life to bless others. I pray that I always look to You for peace and not my circumstances or the world surrounding me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The conversation at the Café is always hot and fresh. We invite you to listen in as Luann and Friends gather around the table to discuss everyday life.

Comfort food for your soul is always on our menu, and friends are always close enough to hug. We invite you to join us daily, as our writer’s share how the Lord continues to transform them into His glorious image.

Still craving more…Join us as we grow together in grace and truth through our online bible study.

Stop by Encouragement Café and listen as the girls share life. Find podcasts, videos, Bible studies, prayer, resources and daily helpings of hope, laughter and friendship around our table. We've saved a seat just for you!

About Encouragement Café with Luann & Friends

From the moment your eyes open to the last minute of the day, your life is filled with nonstop action. If you aren't careful you can become so overwhelmed in meeting the demands of life that you forget to spend time with your Creator and Sustainer. Our daily devotionals written specifically for women in all walks and stages of life, will change the outlook of your day and give you the inspiration you need! Spending any amount of quiet time in the Word of God will refresh and encourage. Find a Bible devotion here and see how God can work through you to make today a joyful day!